1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the continuous treatment of variegated substrates, either suspended from longitudinal cores or wound around such cores in multiple layers, then heated and exposed to hot vapors in chambers. The openings for loading and exit being at the bottom of the chamber to prevent the escape of steam or vapors lighter than air. The cores carrying such substrates are secured with their extremities to individual links fastened in parallel fashion to two parallel conveyor chains. The conveyor rotates these substrates within this bellshaped chamber in such a way, as to bring each core, on each round, to the accessible lower section of the chamber, permitting manual or automated interference with any sample or substrate at every single rotation of the twin conveyor chains, or at any desired multiple of such rotations, e.g.; six rotations of ten minutes each will provide a total of sixty minutes exposure and six chances for interference. Adjustable conveyor speed permits to control processing by regulating the time of each rotation, and controlling thereby the treatment intervals for interference, sampling, removal, or entering of materials.
Means are provided to impart to any suitably equipped carrier a secondary rotation around its longitudinal axis as it moves with the conveyor through the chamber.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present improvements are an addition and extension to the processing technology described by this inventor in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,494,389 and 4,984,439